酒 — “alcohol / sake” in Japanese

Grade 3しゅ, さか, さけ

Radical ⾣ · radical 164 The building block this kanji is filed under

“alcohol / sake” in Japanese is 酒, read shu, saka, sake (しゅ, さか, さけ). It is a Grade 3 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 3 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 日本酒 (sake).

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What does 酒 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	酒
Meaning	alcohol / sake
Readings	しゅ, さか, さけ
Grade	Grade 3 (Medium)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	日本酒 (sake)

How to read 酒

酒 is read shu (しゅ) or saka (さか) or sake (さけ) depending on the word.

Words with 酒

日本酒

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Updated: 2026-08-28